Pull-on device for boots and shoes.



M. A. HAYWARD.

PULL-0N DEVICE FOR. BOOTS AND SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE23,1913.

Patented Apr. 7, 1914" Inventor:

Witnesses.-

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO..WASHXNGTON. D. :4

MARTIN A. HA! WARD, OF EAST BRIDGEWATER, MASSACHUSETTS.

PULL-ON DEVICE FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

LQSZASS Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. '2, 1914;.

Application filed June 23, 1913. Serial No. 775,264.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN A. HAYWARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Bridgewater, in the county of Plymouth, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Pull-On Devices for Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention comprises improvements in pull-on devices for boots and shoes, and is designed to supplant the undesirable and objectionable pull-on straps at present in general use. The said straps, as is well known, generally are made of cloth, the latter being produced as a comparatively narrow webbing. In the case of heavier footwear the pull-straps sometimes are made of leather. In forming a pull-strap, a length of the said webbing or of leather is taken and is bent or doubled back upon itself into the form of an elongated loop. It is applied and attached to the back of the upper of a shoe with the loop projecting to a considerable distance above the top edge of the upper of the shoe. A pull-strap of this character is unsightly even when the shoe is new, and quickly becomes more so, and furthermore it has the drawback that after a shoe has been in use for a time the loop bends down outside the shoe so that it presents an untidy and objectionable appearance. When it bends down inside the shoe, it occasions discomfort and chafes the ankle of the wearer. Sometimes one end of the loop becomes unfastened, and then the entire length of the opened-out loop hangs down. The ordinary pull-strap is used by inserting a finger into the loop thereof. In the dark, when the aid of sight cannot be utilized, it is difficult to find the opening of a loop, and consequently at such time the pull-strap is of but little assistance in pulling on a shoe.

The general object of the invention is to replace the ordinary pull-strap with a device which shall befree from the drawbacks and objections of the said pull-strap.

Special objects of the invention are to dispense with the loop, and with the extension or projection of the device above the top of the upper of a shoe. Also, to provide a pullon device of neat, attractive, and effective character.

In accordance with the invention I employ as a pull-on device a bar or toggle held tion on line 6, 6, of Fig. 5.

strap forming in place by means of a strap, which may be the back stay of a shoe, or may be some other strap adapted or applied for the purpose to the shoe. Preferably, and as one part of the invention, I form the said bar or toggle with enlarged ends, so that it is substantially dumb-bell shaped, the attaching strap being fitted around the reduced portion of the bar between the two heads. The two heads project at opposite sides of the strap and are adapted to be taken hold of by two fingers of the hand which is employed for pulling the shoe on, the said fingers being partly hooked under the said heads and the thum of the same hand being pressed against the inner surface of the top of the upper. Preferably also, and in accordance with one feature of the invention, the bar or toggle is located below the top edge of the upper of the shoe, so that it does not proect above the said edge.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawings, in which latter, Figure 1 shows in side elevation a shoe having the said embodiment applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a back view of the said shoe. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion thereof. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the dumbbell shaped bar or toggle, and Fig. 4 is an end view thereof; Fig. 5 is an elevation of a stay strap applied to and combined with the bar or toggle of Figs. 3 and 4, the said parts being in readiness for application to the back of the shoe. Fig. 6 is a view in vertical see- Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a portion of an upper with the attaching strap applied to the inner surface of the upper. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 7.

Having reference to the drawings,The upper of the shoe shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is designated 1, 2 is a back-stay, and 3 is the bar 01' toggle. The upper portion of the the back-stay 2 is bent around the intermediate portion 3 of the bar or toggle 3 so as to encircle the bar or toggle between the-enlarged heads 3*, 3 thereof. A line of stitches 4 unites the two portions of the back-stay strap together immediately adjacent the reduced intermediate portion of the bar or toggle, so as to connect the bar or toggle and strap togtther, the enlarged heads of the bar or toggle operating to prevent endwise displacement and disengagement of the bar or toggle. The bar or toggle therefore cannot become separated from the strap. The back-stay 2 is applied to the rear portion of the upper 1 of a shoe in approved manner, the main stitching by which it is attached being indicated at 5. The line of stitches 4 also fastens the upper portion of the stay to the upper. Preferably, as previously referred to, the bar or toggle is located just below the top edge of the upper, although where this location is not regarded as essential by the maker, dealer, or purchaser of the shoe, the bar or toggle may be located at any approved height above the said top edge. hen located below the top edge as in Figs. 1 and 2, it is less conspicuous, and fits in better with the general design of the top of a shoe, and there is no obstructing projec tion above the said top edge on which garments or the like may become caught.

In utilizing the invention for the purpose of pulling on a shoe, the tips of two fingers of ones hand are partly hooked under the enlarged heads 3", 3", while the thumb of the said hand is pressed against the inner surface of the top of the upper, whereupon the necessary pull may be exerted to draw the shoe into place upon the foot of the wearer.

While I prefer the shape of bar or toggle shown in the drawings, the invention is not necessarily in all instances restricted to the precise shape shown. Nor is the invention restricted to the combination of the said bar or toggle with the back-stay. Nor to the precise manner and means of fastening the securing strap so as to hold the bar or toggle in place.

The projecting ends or heads of the bar or toggle may be of any approved form, but preferably they are of curved, in this instance cylindrical, form in vertical cross section. In virtue of being rounded vertically, the lower edge of a trousers-leg will not remain caught upon the same but will readily dislodge and fall. 7

A special advantage in connection with a pull-011 device embodying the invention is the fact that the width of the strap is less than the length of the bar or toggle and the strap may be comparatively narrow. It follows therefrom that when the strap with connected bar or toggle is stitched or otherwise attached to the upper, the width of the strap being narrow, the upper is not held' extended in a straight or practicallystraight condition transversely as it would be if a stiff strap of considerable width were employed. Consequently, whether the strap with connected bar or toggle is applied to the exterior of the upper. as in Figs. 1or2, or to'the interior thereof as in Figs. 7 and 8, in which latter views the bar or toggle projects slightly above the top edge of the upper, the upper is permitted to assume a rounded shape and to fit'closely to the ankle of the wearer of the shoe, as indicated by Figs. 2 and 8. 1 j V The bar or toggle may be formed of any suitable and approved material. I have formed the same in practice of metal turned or pressed to the required shape and proportions, but it may be formed of; plastic material, or of leather.

What I claim as my invention is: 1. As a pull-on device for boots or shoes, the combination with the upper of a shoe, of

a bar or toggle, and a strapattached to the said upper and looping around the intermediate portion of the said bar or toggle in such manner as to secure the latter in place with the end portions of the bar or toggle projecting laterally from the opposite edges of said strap sufficiently to con stitute finger-holds.

2. As a pull-on device for boots or shoes, the combination with the upper of a shoe, of a dumb-bell shaped bar or toggle, and a strap attached to the said upper and encircling the reduced intermediate portion of the bar or toggle. and thereby attaching the latter to the upper, with the enlarged heads of the bar or toggle projecting to constitute finger-holds.

3. As a pull-on device for boots or shoes, the combination with the upper of a shoe, of a bar or toggle, and a strap attached to the upper and looping around said bar or toggle in such manner that the said bar or toggle is secured to the upper near the top of the latter but below the top edge thereof,

with the ends of the bar or toggle projecting at opposite edges of the saidstrap sufiiciently to serve as finger-holds.

In testimony whereof I affix my slgnature in presence of two witnesses.

MARTIN A. HAYWARD. V

Witnesses:

Ci-rAs. F. RANDALL, ELLEN 0. SPRING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

